Shrimp And Crawfish,Like Peas In A Pod?

Gov. Bobby Jindal's Shrimp Task Force met for the
second time last week in search of answers that could help harvesters
and processors rebound from one of the most challenging times in the
industry's long history in Louisiana. Domestic inventories have piled
up to equal about half of the annual U.S. consumption rate, cheap
imports are dominating the marketplace, recovery from recent hurricanes
is ongoing and prices for raw material continue to increase.

While task force members heard ideas about hiking the
excise tax on barrels of imported shrimp, pushing a new branding
program and increasing quality inspections, the suggestions that had
bureaucrats shifting in their chairs and forcing laughs involved moving
the shrimp industry from the purview of the Wildlife and Fisheries
Department to the Agriculture Department. It's not far-fetched —
the Agriculture Department already oversees crawfish, another form of
aquaculture, and it already has teams of inspectors and a nationally
recognized branding program for its products. That said, political
realities would never allow such a move to happen.

"We have no enforcement arm to do that kind of thing,"
Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain says, "but you will see a
longstanding relationship formed with our department and the shrimp
industry. There are a lot of ways we can cooperate." Even if the
proposal somehow makes it to the Legislature, it probably won't clear
its first committee hurdle. "That's just not going to happen," adds
Rep. Gordon Dove, R-Houma, chairman of the House Natural
Resources Committee. — Jeremy Alford